Hey All-Interesting thoughts while we keep up hope that the lockout will end and the Wings will be skating again. Anyway, here is a question.I remember the barrage of critisim that Holland took after he "did nothing" during the Free Agency period. Some questioned his committment to the team...some called for his job. Some ranted that he "missed the boat on guys like Suter and Parise" and called him out on adding people like Tootoo and Sammy. Kenny must have got a really good tan because he took a ton of heat this summer.Looking back, has your perception changed of what he did. The GM's meet and talk. They are directed by the owners on what to do and how to do things. Do you feel that like a lot of GM's, Holland knew a lockout was probable and didnt want the team to be over the cap, or to tie up funds that may not be availabe. Do you think this had nothing to do with Holland's choices at the trade deadline and stand by your assessment of him?thoughts?

Holland did the best he could this summer. Can't fault him for Suter choosing to play elsewhere.

My complaint will always be with Holland's lack of action in the years leading up to this off-season. Rafalski was a surprise retirement, but everyone knew Nick's days were dwindling and Stu was going back to California.

I still don't understand the Holland hate. It's not like the man can force the hand of free agents. He tried his best, and obviously put in some damn effort while doing so. He was in talks with numerous different agents, traveled to go visit them, and in the end they just didn't choose him. If anything, this off-season made me smile because he was so aggressive compared to previous seasons.

Holland did the best he could this summer. Can't fault him for Suter choosing to play elsewhere.

My complaint will always be with Holland's lack of action in the years leading up to this off-season. Rafalski was a surprise retirement, but everyone knew Nick's days were dwindling and Stu was going back to California.

Props to you for not holding Parise and Suter over Kenny's head, like so many other fans do. I don't see any reasonable viewing of that situation that would place the blame on Kenny. The Wings offered both of them tons of money, and they still opted for Minnesota. The Wild's $196 million payout to those two players was so extreme it's a partial cause of the ongoing lockout (particularly the "make whole" provision). AND, we don't even know how Minnesota will be adversely affected once a new CBA is passed (What if the Cap dropped to $59 million? What if the punitive measures proposed by the league against back diving contracts are actually passed?!).

But to the question: "Has your opinion of Kenny changed?", I don't know how it couldn't have changed. Certainly, your opinion of any ONE-year deals (such as the Carolina deal to Semin, which was my only real "WTF?" moment this summer) has changed, given that there's a pretty good chance of that deal never coming to fruition. And all of the long-term deals we DIDN'T sign, well, who knows what the outcome will be of that.

As of July 1st, these were some commonly held views regarding the upcoming CBA issues:

There's no way the NHL allows any type of extended work stoppage, after what happened in 2004/05

Wholesale changes to the Cap structure and salary rollbacks are unlikely, given that the league made $3.3 BILLION last season

The cancellation of the Winter Classic and, in fact, any games after January 1st was unthinkable

Think about how much has changed since then. Whether or not Holland could "foresee" those issues, I really can't say if I'd be more comfortable now with a bonus-laden deal to Weber, Nash, Parise, or Suter...or if it would be better off to let this thing play out and address some more needs through trades and next offseason's FA class.

Ultimately no, I haven't changed my opinion as I figured that Kenny was already planning for a post-new CBA world already by making those smaller moves. While I wouldn't mind if the Wings had Suter, Parise, or some other big splash free agent, I wouldn't want to see the them crippled long term because of it & there's more than a fair chance that would have happened. Just figured that Kenny was playing the long game all along.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

Was totally unprepared for Lidstrom's retirement. Shouldn't have had to jump through hoops for Suter in the first place.

This is exactly how I feel about it also. I don't blame him for not landing either player, but I do blame him for not preparing better for the future.

The only good news that can come out of a cancelled season this year is next year's pool of free agents will come and we still have the money to spend. A few competitive teams put themselves out of the bidding war by dropping $$$ on FAs this offseason.

My opinion of Kenny has not changed at all. I think he played this past offseason very well. Willing to throw most of the bank at a few FA's while respecting his line in the sand moneywise. I think it played out ok. Now, these players who played the greed card are worried about getting all of the money thrown at them. Maybe he'll get a second chance at them. What if the owners get their way and don't have honor the promises they made but the players can opt out and hit FA again? Sounds fair to me. Pipedream, I know. I still have a lot of faith in Kenny and he has enough bank with me for that to last a while.

The cap more or less has handcuffed both Holland, and Ilitch...That said what gets me is how he continues to seek what I'd consider to be the "smaller/soft" types in the draft (mind you even in many of the later rounds)...That's really my only beef with the man...

I'm hoping that this lockout ends soon; if we're lucky (key term here is lucky) - maybe a few teams have to jettison a few decent players that Holland could pick up on the cheap...

"Cola" - "Sammy" - "Choo-Choo-Tootoo" were solid additions that can contribute; yeah we lost out on Parise/Suter, but so did many other teams not named Minnesota.

I think he did pretty well, considering that he lost his #1 #2 and #4 defenseman in just one year... Most other GM's would have destroyed our depth at forward and sacrificed our teams future to rebuild the defense through trades. I'd rather not lose anyone or our picks, and wait for Sproul, Ouellet, Marchenko, DeKeyser, and McKee to age up.

Wouldn't say Ken was entirely unprepared either... 50% of our drafts picks over the last 2 drafts were D-men. Considering Kenny's style (building through the draft opposed to building through trades) I'd call that preparation.

Anyone who knows Holland knows that the CBA also influenced his decision making. Although it was probably his most aggressive off-season, he still played it close to the vest and didn't tie up all our money. Minny's "Big Win" is going to be their biggest mistake when the cap drops.

my only beef is with acquiring tootoo...i think that was a mistake. but i could be wrong. i think i would have gone after semin over tootoo. we have enough role players.
hell, half the team is role players...a true scorer is needed. with pasha working on semin, he would have worked better for us than ovechkin.

The cap more or less has handcuffed both Holland, and Ilitch...That said what gets me is how he continues to seek what I'd consider to be the "smaller/soft" types in the draft (mind you even in many of the later rounds)...That's really my only beef with the man...

I'm hoping that this lockout ends soon; if we're lucky (key term here is lucky) - maybe a few teams have to jettison a few decent players that Holland could pick up on the cheap...

"Cola" - "Sammy" - "Choo-Choo-Tootoo" were solid additions that can contribute; yeah we lost out on Parise/Suter, but so did many other teams not named Minnesota.

I think we tend to draft small because we play the skill game. When your system requires that most of your players are skilled your gonna have to draft a lot of skilled softies. And because we always pick late, all the players who are blessed with both size and skill are gone when they get to us.

my only beef is with acquiring tootoo...i think that was a mistake. but i could be wrong. i think i would have gone after semin over tootoo. we have enough role players.hell, half the team is role players...a true scorer is needed. with pasha working on semin, he would have worked better for us than ovechkin.

but who knows...maybe brunner can be the acquistion of the decade!

What roles are you talking about? Tootoo and Semin are not even comparable. Tootoo is a bottom 6 agitator and Semin is a top 6 scorer. Yeah we need a sniper in the top 6, but we also need grit in the bottom 6. Tootoo brings that.

Semin is a terrible choice anyway. We don't need his laziness rubbing off on the rest of our players. I wouldn't even want him in the same room as Pulkkinen.

What roles are you talking about? Tootoo and Semin are not even comparable. Tootoo is a bottom 6 agitator and Semin is a top 6 scorer. Yeah we need a sniper in the top 6, but we also need grit in the bottom 6. Tootoo brings that.

Semin is a terrible choice anyway. We don't need his laziness rubbing off on the rest of our players. I wouldn't even want him in the same room as Pulkkinen.

a role player is one that does a lot of things, but not a specific one great.

if we have 4 lines of agitators=fun game where we lose 5-1 but threw some nasty hits!we have enough role players...cleary, abdelkader, helm, eaves,miller,samulesson, bertuzzi ...etc.if given the chance to acquire a sniper, or a pain in the ass "on this established team" ...I would have taken the sniper.

i wasnt comparing them just for kicks...i know they are different players. the wings have limited seating at the table, grab the one we are lacking.yes...he is a **cough..."coaster" cough** but he has upside. see... "franzen" "hossa" "hull"

semin isnt my first choice for the wings...but he was available on a one year, and has a track record for scoring.

i just dont like tootoo, or pronger or crosby or cooke or jagr ..etc..... they have their place on teams...just not mine.